Sunday, August 2, 2009

July 29, 2009

JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia - A Philippine school in Jeddah has opted not to suspend its classes even after one of its students got infected with the A(H1N1) virus.

Instead, the Al Hekma International School cleaned the premises and advised parents not to let their children go to school if they are sick.“Mahirap naman kasi na tuwing may virus ay suspinde agad ang school. (It’s not practical to suspend classes every time a student is infected) Prevention ang kailangan nating gawin ngayon (is what we need to do right now," Al Hekma principal Belma Regis told GMANews.TV.

She said the school will also assemble all its students and check for flu-like symptoms. Al Hekma has more than 1,000 students, 98 percent of them Filipinos.

“Hindi na natin mapipigilan ang pagkalat nito. Ang kailangan ay maiwasan na lamang na mahawa pa ang iba nating mag aaral (We won’t be able to contain the virus anyway so what we need to do is make sure our students don’t get infected)," she said.

With that in mind, the principal said parents should immediately inform them if their children test positive for the virus. A parent, who refused to be named, said many parents do not report to the school even if their children do get infected.This became evident when a female student of Al Hekma tested positive for the mutant virus.

The mother of the student told GMANews.TV that her daughter started showing signs of A(H1N1) after a male student who earlier tested positive for the virus did not inform the school of his condition.

Early this month, the International Philippine School of Jeddah and the Philippine Sunrise International School were temporarily closed down due to the virus. [See: RP school in Riyadh closed due to A(H1N1)]The principals of these schools said that they will resume classes in August.There are 13 Philippine schools in Riyadh, nine in Jeddah, one in Buraidah in the central region and three in the Eastern Province. - with Kimberly Jane T. Tan, GMANews.TV